UFO's First Meeting 

 

On January 9th at Rudolph Steiner House in London, UFO had its first meeting. 

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The gathering was intended to converge people from different perspectives who had their own part to play in protecting the ocean. 

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We had an evening of sharing information with others active and interested in protecting our oceans. 

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Topics discussed included encouraging whale and dolphin conservation via education, research programmes that include community involvement, the role of finance, activist movements, academic research on animal ethics, understanding cultural connections and economic frameworks.

 

We heard from activist movements focused on drawing attention to lesser known threats such as by-catch from tuna fishing, and how they use public events to display their message.

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We heard from academics researching turtle conservation and their positive impact on local community jobs as well as increased turtle populations. 

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We heard how finance can be used to help conservation and humanitarian efforts in ESG, with a recognition of the difficulties in engaging this sector in meaningful action.

 

We heard a range of views that about theories of change, integrating social justice,  and how our economic system encourages exploitation.

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The event was there to connect people with a similar goal in mind: protect the ocean, but with different means of achieving this. Unlike the echo chambers of our online existences, we wanted this event to be in person, and present views that were engaging and informative rather than all necessarily compatible. 

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United for Ocean is an acknowledgement that we can all do better to listen to each other and find our similarities rather than differences in our efforts to protect the world. We want to find ways to facilitate connection so that actions are faster, more efficient and cooperative. 

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As such, everyone was actively involved in the evening and collaborations were encouraged going forward - some having already commenced.

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We invite you to future meetings, to network, to understand where we can work together.

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Join UFO’s future conferences and events for creating meaningful relationships and collaborations to protect the ocean from increased threats and devastation.

We are looking to contribute as a group what obstacles to action we have encountered, and how we have found solutions.​

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How can we work together across different fields to affect greater change?​ We want to shift the tide quicker and more effectively by listening to each other and working across disciplines.

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We are inviting those working and living in relevant fields, such as:

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Lawyers - Environmentalists - Philosophers - Biologists - Ocean and climate scientists - Data scientists - Fishermen - Farmers - Community leaders - Journalists - Academics - Advertisers - Business people - Educators - Coaches - Affected citizens

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